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Richard Childress Racing reaches 100th Cup win

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Seven drivers contribute to win totals, including all four of RCR's current stable

Thanks to Clint Bowyer's victory at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, Richard Childress Racing reached a milestone achieved by only four other organizations: a 100th Cup win.

"We had the 100th anniversary of Chevrolet on the race car, and I knew if I won the race, it would be Richard's 100th win," Bowyer said. "There were too many things that were meant to be."

It perhaps wasn't surprising that win No. 100 for RCR would come at Talladega. Not only has the organization won 12 times at NASCAR's longest track, but it's the place where Richard Childress made his Cup debut in 1969, running in the inaugural Talladega event when many of the top drivers staged a walkout over safety concerns.

"It all started for RCR here in 1969," Childress said. "It's great to come back to the same place where I really got my big break. When they boycotted, I went ahead and ran the race, and I got money on Saturday and got money on Sunday, and got meal money from Mr. Bill France.

"It was more money than I'd ever seen in my life. And we ended up going back, building a shop and starting racing. So that was a big break for me. Today, to get our 100th win with Clint -- you know, only in America can a kid with a $20 race car do what I've been able to do. It all started with a $20 race car and a dream."

Childress never visited Victory Lane as a driver, but he made frequent visits there once he hired Ricky Rudd. Rudd scored the team's first win at Riverside in 1983. One year later, Childress hired Dale Earnhardt -- and the two combined for six championships and 67 victories, one of those being the 1998 Daytona 500.

A total of seven drivers contributed to Childress' win totals, including all four of RCR's current stable. In addition to Earnhardt and Rudd, Kevin Harvick is second all time with 18 victories for RCR. Bowyer has five, Jeff Burton four, Robby Gordon three and Paul Menard one.

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